Contents

Notices ............................................................................................

v

Safety information ..........................................................................

vi

About this guide .............................................................................

vii

ASUS contact information ............................................................

viii

P4PE-X specifications summary ....................................................

ix

Chapter 1: Product introduction

1.1

Welcome! ...........................................................................

1-2

1.2

Package contents ...............................................................

1-2

1.3

Special features ..................................................................

1-3

1.4

Motherboard components ..................................................

1-4

1.5

Motherboard layout ............................................................

1-7

1.6

Before you proceed ............................................................

1-8

1.7

Motherboard installation .....................................................

1-9

 

1.7.1

Placement direction ...............................................

1-9

 

1.7.2

Screw holes ...........................................................

1-9

1.8

Central Processing Unit (CPU) .........................................

1-10

 

1.8.1

Overview ..............................................................

1-10

 

1.8.2

Installing the CPU .................................................

1-11

1.9

System memory ...............................................................

1-12

 

1.9.1

Memory configurations ........................................

1-12

 

1.9.2

Installing a DIMM .................................................

1-13

1.10

Expansion slots ................................................................

1-14

 

1.10.1

Standard interrupt assignments ...........................

1-14

 

1.10.2

IRQ assignments for this motherboard ................

1-14

1.11

Jumpers ............................................................................

1-15

1.12

Connectors .......................................................................

1-16

Chapter 2: BIOS information

2.1 Managing and updating your BIOS ....................................

2-2

2.1.1 Using ASUS EZ Flash to update the BIOS ............

2-2

2.1.2 Using AFLASH to update the BIOS .......................

2-4

2.1.3

CrashFree BIOS feature ........................................

2-7

2.1.4

BIOS beep codes ...................................................

2-7

iii